Letting our White Chocolate Peanut Spread steal the show, these bars are perfect bite-sized treats for parties, potlucks, and barbecues. Or just make them as decadent treats to enjoy at home! The dessert superstar line-up starts with a sweet, light shortbread base. It’s an excellent support for the caramel mixed with white chocolate and chopped, dry roasted peanuts for a luscious gooey and crunchy texture combination. Then our simply delicious White Chocolate Peanut Spread is melted and spread over the top for a creamy topping. Finish it off by dropping mini pretzels in, and we’ve got a home run!

Ingredients

SHORTBREAD BASE:

Take advantage of the full-bodied taste of our Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla and the creamy deliciousness of our White Chocolate Peanut Spread!

Add the cold, cubed butter and Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract and mix, or pulse, until the dough is like coarse breadcrumbs.

Press the dough into the parchment-lined cake pan and chill in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Dock the dough and bake in a 350°F degrees oven for 30 minutes, until light golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes.

PEANUT CARAMEL: Once the base has cooled, begin making the caramel. In a medium saucepan, dry caramelize the sugar slowly.

Warm the cream.

Once all the sugar has melted and it is a reddish-brown color, remove from the heat and whisk in the warm cream.

Add the butter and return the saucepan to medium heat and cook to 240°F degrees.

Remove from the heat and strain the caramel, if there are bits of sugar that have not dissolved.

Add the peanuts and stir to combine.

Pour the caramel over the shortbread base and smooth to even it out. Let this set for about 3 hours or overnight.

TOPPING: Melt the White Chocolate Peanut Spread slowly in the microwave, just until melted, not too hot.

Pour over the set caramel and drop pretzels onto the top.

Let this set for one hour.

At this point, if desired, you can drizzle white and dark chocolate over the top.

Tips:

You may want to wear gloves in step 9, as the caramel will steam and can splatter as you whisk in the cream.

If there are clumps in the white chocolate peanut spread that are not melting, stir them until they melt, which helps keep the spread cool, but warm enough to pour. Or melt the spread over a double boiler.